I have thought about the dummies, and I do plan to get some eventually.

Part of my problem area though is when I torte, fill and stack my cakes.... I don't always get them stacked straight enough and sometimes they then lean or have other issues.

So I need to be able to practice that as well. I need to get straighter cuts when I torte. Plus the last time I did this I used a dab of food coloring to put a line down the side of the cake after I cut it, but before taking off the top part. then after I filled it I made sure my line lined back up when I stacked it. That helped.

But it is an area that I am still practicing where dummies wouldn't really work.

Like others I used birthday money and christmas money for my cake stuff. I bake cakes for just about our entire family now, but if they want something over the top I will usually just tell them it is our gift or have them cover the cost of ingredients.

I decorate cakes about once a month, I guess - sometimes more often. They are mostly done for faculty parties where everyone has to take something to share. Now everyone expects a cake from me. It gives me an excuse to try new things. I also sometimes offer to make one for a baby or wedding shower or a birthday or other celebration and that becomes my contribution. No one has every asked me to make one for them for free, but plenty of people have said they'd pay me to make one. I alway decline, explaining that I don't have a license. Some people are a little miffed. Sometimes, for something fairly simple (which would still take me hours) I offer to teach them some basics so they can do it themselves. No takers on that.

It does get a little expensive, but I figure that at least I make food that peple can eat. My husband has recently taken up carving and spends a bloody fortune on equipment. Funny - I thought all you neede was a knife!

I make a cake..that justify the need for a new toy..But I think I should get into a mental facility cause
I do have a real addiction to buy cake stuff. NO OTHER REASON THAT CAUSE I WANT MORE!


Edna

My husband fishes and I cake. He never has to justify his hobby and he spends WAY more than I do. I have yet to eat a fish he caught but he sure eats my cakes. LOL

hahaha I do this as a hobby and just last weekend my husband was talking about remodeling my kitchen so I would have some place to store all my cake stuff hehehehe.......I went to target and bought a small wicker stand with drawers and bingo, stuff a little organized, until I buy more hehehe.....and I agree with Mike most hobbies are expensive. My son paints landscapes etc that stuff is really expensive. I got dummies to practice because we are all getting fat.

I bake for my relatives as a gift. When they ask me for a cake for one of their friends, they buy the ingredients. I pick the design. If someone brings me a photo of a cake and wants to buy ingredients so I can make it for them, I'm too busy

When someone buys the ingredients for me, my ingredient amount usually includes a couple bottles of Americolor or a jar of Tylose or a new cutter that I need. They're still getting a bargain...the cake in my avatar photo was done for $40 worth of ingredients and the zebra one in my photos was also done for $40.

My husband's hobby is drawing...he buys a pack of printer paper and some pens a couple times a year and that's it. So I can't justify hobby expenses that way.

Most years when we get our tax refund, I have a small list of luxury cake items I need. This year we're getting a house, so my cake item for the year is going to be a better kitchen (instead of the airbrush I was wanting) but it's all good

I started out just so I could make better birthday cakes for my kids . Also make cupcakes and cookies alot for the neighborhood events,kids school events,bake sale fundraising events.

I have a special needs son and so there is a long list of people I like to give treats to, bus driver and assistant, teacher and paras,speech,ot,pt therapists, Child care staff for all they do for him and the other children,horse thereapy volunteers,doctors,baby sitters,neighbors,friends,food days at work. So these alone give me lots of practice.

In my state we can sell a cake but we can't advertise. I have baked a bit for friends but only charge a bit over the expenses which may allow me to buy or save to buy my next cake toy.

The 40% coupons at Michaels,Joanns in the paper or on line allow me to get a good price. I usually have a list of the next Items I want to get. I have traded baking a cake for child care too. I also find that I would rather get a new cake item then a pair of shoes or a new outfit.

Pretty soon I have to shop for clothes,it's been a while and they are looking shabby while I stocked up on my cake supplies,,,lol....

When someone buys the ingredients for me, my ingredient amount usually includes a couple bottles of Americolor or a jar of Tylose or a new cutter that I need. They're still getting a bargain...the cake in my avatar photo was done for $40 worth of ingredients and the zebra one in my photos was also done for $40.

what a great idea... I love that. I could totally do that stuff. I love to bake and find myself for no reason looking through my cupboards. The husband has a jeep and is constantly buying stuff for that so i justify it that way. It does get expensive.

Ive seen a lot of people on here talk about some stores that ive never heard of buy i do have a GFS here... what is GFS good for? Ive heard of bettercreme but not quite sure what it is. What do you buy at GFS?

ps... im still trying to get the hang of quoting people, so i apologize for the two times i thought i was doing it right but really had no clue

Repeat after me "I'm a cake toy junkie, I'm a cake toy junkie"!

Okay, tiggy2
My name is Helen, and I am a cake toy junkie.

When is our next meeting?

If I offer to make someone a cake, I do it for free. When family ask, I usually ask for $50 to cover ingredients plus any new bits and pieces I might need. It's win/win - they get a cake, I get to experiment and build up my decorating supplies.

I also look out for used supplies on ebay and at garage sales. Just today I got 3 cake decorating books (one of them by Debbie Brown) in perfect condition at a garage sale for $2! I'm still excited about that find

Like someone said "old and wealthy"....well maybe not so wealthy but well off enough. I do charge for my supplies if someone wants a specialty cake. I don't do that many cakes anymore. I would do them for showers or special occasions at work and birthdays too. Now if my sisters want cakes for birthdays or whatever then I do charge them. I am not a charity to give away stuff for free. I do not advertise though either..

I'm a hobby baker too! I make cakes for family gatherings, friends and special occasions of family, friends or co-workers. It ends up as a gift for them or occasionally my co-workers insist on contributing to my baked goods as we would normally buy cakes for the event...so instead they would ask me to do it and they know they are getting a more special cake than what you would normally get at a bakery. Sometimes close friends at work order cakes from me and I really mean sometimes...so I don't consider it a business as it's not a 2 or 3 times a month thing.

I enjoy what I do and love every minute of decorating the cakes.

I haven't read all of the posts, so forgive me if this has already been said: once I started to see how much money this was, I started offering the cakes pretty much at cost. This way, the person was buying me the ingredients and I would make the cake for them. No charge for labor or anything like that. This enabled me to keep trying new things without draining my wallet.

I largely donate cakes or ask for people to buy me ingredients.

It is getting to be a bit pricey! I wish my cakes cost less to make, but once I add up all my supplies (bought in Philadelphia, so groceries cost more), and special-ordered dusts and molds, tools, dowels, etc, it usually comes to around $80-$100/cake. I also must admit that I don't really like to make simple cakes. Everything is 3-D, sculpted, and usually feeds around 50 (I only make them for big events and parties). I'm sure that if I made simpler cakes, like a one-tier regular shaped cake, it would be cheaper. But those are not challenging, and no fun for me! Or if I didn't make my own buttercream, different fillings, etc, it would be cheaper. But I can't bring myself to skimp on my cakes.

To those of you who spend $30-$50 on making cakes, I envy you!

I'm a hobby baker (working on figuring out how to open a business), and most of the cakes I do are in lieu of a gift, as a PP said. Friend's kids birthdays mostly, and I'll do whatever character the kids want. The other ones are usually for family holiday parties and such. I did do a wedding cake for my best friend's brother and told them they had to either buy the ingredients or give me the money for the ingredients, and the rest of the cake was their wedding gift (it's the pic in my av).

~Chelle